Saturday, October 19, 2013

Share your love for an eternity..

Clara never had a better friend than Thoralf. He was with her for everything worth remembering. There wasn't a single party (except a few that were supposed to be forgotten) that she would have danced without being in his arms and returning his childish smiles. He was everything she had.

The mistake was never his. Or probably it was. Spain was his favourite country and he loved to do crazy stuff there. He loved the sun, the beaches and the miles of open land. Last February, he was suddenly bored of the usual things and wanted to do the big one -the holy El Camino de Santiago itself, and all by himself.

Clara set him off as any wife of a brave Viking warrior would. But what returned was a box, and when the box was shut tight, Clara did the same to herself, no questions asked.

It must have been a year now. Clara was in the kitchen, staring at the card lying on the table. Jeremy and Jude were getting married. Jeremy and Jude were Clara's friends from childhood and they had stood by her all throughout the ordeal. She was extremely grateful to them and didn't want to weigh down on their happiness anymore. The wedding wasn't a normal one either and after hearing about the plans, she wasn't sure about how she could get involved. But she knew she had to be present.

The wedding day--

The wedding wasn't being conducted at their parish church. Jeremy got the few friends and relatives to board the bus that was parked in front of the church. After an hour of journey through parts of the town she had never known, Clara found herself in a dilapidated courtyard of sorts. A group of old men,women and kids in shabby clothes stood some distance away. It felt awkward to be dressed in one's best wedding clothes in the presence of these people. Clara felt nervous, frustrated and she wanted to cry out. Jeremy was shaking hands with another man from that group and guffawing loudly at her. She realized that all other guests seemed to be at more ease and they were taking their seats in the cheap plastic chairs that were brought out by a gang of boys.

Once everyone was seated, Jeremy announced loudly that they were in a leper camp. And the man he shook hands with was the parish priest. It took a while for the crowd to digest this, from the nature of murmur that was heard. Knowing Jeremy, and most of the crowd being his close friends and relatives, this wasn't something unexpected. The wedding got underway and soon it was all done. Clara didn't realize that tears were rolling down her cheeks, until she noticed the hands outstretched towards her with napkins in it.

Jeremy announced that they would dedicate one month every year to the cause of helping out the people in the camp. They apparently were being ignored by the townsfolk and short of supplies of all kinds. Jeremy requested the guests to donate whatever they wished to for the cause and after a brief toast by some friends the celebrations were in full pitch. All during the time, Clara kept to herself without mingling with anyone she didn't really know. But when it was time to leave, Clara felt someone pulling her gown and she turned back sharply to find a short and skinny girl standing close to her. Her dress was patched at so many places that it was difficult to not think they were actually meant to be so. She seemed to be in her late teens. Dust covered her completely and with one hand she was holding Clara's white gown. On any other day, Clara would have screamed. But the expression on the girl's face dissuaded her from doing so.

Clara must have stared at her face for while. She felt she could feel the pain of isolation and hopelessness in the girl's face. Clara recalled with horrifying guilt that at this age, she was probably running around merrily, living in many a boy's heart and breaking many more. And here was this pretty thing, all covered in dust and rags with nothing but her own broken heart and soul. Without much hesitation, Clara held up the skinny hand that clutched her gown and slipped off the platinum ring that adorned her own ring finger. The girl was taken aback at this gesture and tried to back off as Clara held her close and slipped the ring into the skinny finger. It didn't fit well, but managed to stay on.

the symbol of eternal love

Satisfied, Clara walked back to the bus, trying to sink into the enormity of her own action. The ring was a very precious gift from Thoralf. He had used up his entire savings and bought it for her for the first wedding anniversary. She remembered how she fell crying when he gifted it to her, and also how much she scolded him afterwards. This was the only remaining possession that reminded her of Thoralf. It truly was the symbol of his love for her, and it would be appreciated more when it helps the girl to live a life she dreamed of, instead of just adorning the finger of one sad woman. That made him eternal, and she cried with joy on the thought of it. The setting sun looked charming as it never seemed to all these years...

The post was written as an entry for the "Platinum day of love" contest in Indiblogger which requires one to write how platinum made a special day of love even more special.